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Shocking college sports scandals

In 2012, former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted on 45 of 48 counts of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period. Sandusky has been sentenced to life in prison.

After much public pressure, football coach Joe Paterno resigned amid allegations that he could have done more to bring the abuse to light. The day after this announcement, he was fired by telephone. Paterno died in January 2012.

Here are some other college sports scandals that raised eyebrows:

1951. City College Of New York Point Shaving Scandal. One of the biggest scandals of all-time, involving seven schools, with four in Greater New York and three in the Midwest. 33 players were involved as was the mob. CCNY was eventually banned from playing at Madison Square Garden later that year.

1980s-1990’s. University of Michigan/Ed Martin Scandal. Basketball booster Ed Martin was found guilty of paying several players to launder money from an illegal gambling operation in one of the largest scandals involving payments to college athletes in American collegiate history.

1993. Florida State University “Free Shoes” Scandal. In FSU’s run to the football national championship in 1993, nine Florida State players violated NCAA rules by allowing agents to give them money and favors, as well as bankroll an infamous shopping spree at a Foot Locker store.

1996, 2008: John Calipari’s Stripped NCAA Championship Titles. The former head coach of the University of Memphis and the University of Massachusetts is the only head coach in history to have two Final Four victories taken away. The '96 UMass title was taken back after an investigation determined Marcus Camby took money from an agent.

The '08 Univ. of Memphis title was taken from Calipari’s team because someone took the SAT for star player Derrick Rose. Calipari allegedly knew of both incidents before they became public.

1999: University of Minnesota Basketball Academic Cheating Scandal. Head coach Clem Haskins was forced to resign after it was revealed that he was involved in one of the worst academic fraud scandals in the history of NCAA sports. School counselors admitted to writing hundreds of papers and completing other coursework for the team's players.

2001: University of Notre Dame's Coach George O'Leary's fake resume. Inaccuracies were discovered on O’Leary’s resume, including a claim that he had earned a master's degree from a non-existent institution. He also claimed that he had earned three letters in football at the University of New Hampshire when the school claimed he had not even played in one game.

2006. Duke Lacrosse Rape Scandal. An African American student at North Carolina Central Univ. who was working as an exotic dancer accused three white Duke students and lacrosse players of raping her at a party. The case blew into a debate about hate crimes before the men were ultimately declared innocent and the prosecutor in the case was disbarred.

2011. Multiple University of Miami football scandals. Most recently, the program was investigated for NCAA rules violations centering around improper benefits given by a booster. Past scandals including one in 1994 where an academic adviser plead guilty to helping 57 football players falsify applications for Pell Grants.

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